"Intelligence failure". A tweet by the head of British intelligence to congratulate a Turkish minister ignites a wave of ridicule

Britain's foreign intelligence chief Richard Moore's congratulations to Turkey's new foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, caused a stir on the platforms after he congratulated a "fake account" impersonating the Turkish minister on Twitter.

The head of foreign intelligence wrote in his tweet in Turkish: "I wish my friend and former colleague success in his new position. Good luck, minister," he said, then referring to an unofficial account that does not belong to the Turkish foreign minister.

Although the account impersonating Hakan Fidan wrote in the account information that it was not official, and it was only a satirical account, this did not prevent Richard Moore from referring to the account, because it seems that it did not verify its authenticity before referring to it, which opened a torrent of criticism and sarcastic opinions, especially from Turkish tweeters.

Dost ve eski meslektaşıma yeni görevinde başarılar dilerim. Hayırlı olsun, bakanım! @hakanfidan_tr https://t.co/3Jng7GkwVr

— Richard Moore (@ChiefMI6) June 4, 2023

The British intelligence chief referred to an account that joined Twitter in February 2022, and he tweeted only 9 tweets, the first of which was on May 28, coinciding with the results of the Turkish presidential elections.

Richard Moore later tweeted again and wrote in Turkish: "Excuse me, this is embarrassing, but even if the account is sarcastic, my best wishes come true!" , without deleting the first tweet.

Hay aksi, bu utanç verici! Ama hesap bir parodi olsa bile i dileklerim gerçek! 😊 https://t.co/NCpoozWZbb

— Richard Moore (@ChiefMI6) June 4, 2023

The interactions were dominated by sarcastic comments, including "intelligence failure", and others that saw human error as possible even if it came from the head of intelligence, but the mockery of the tweet topped the reaction.

Richard Moore served as ambassador to Turkey from 2014 to 2017, and in July 2020 he was appointed head of the UK's secret intelligence service.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last Saturday the formation of the new government after the end of his inauguration ceremony for a new term, and Fidan, the former head of the intelligence service, took over the portfolio of the Foreign Ministry.